The present invention is about disposable and perspiration absorbent articles. These articles are more particularly intended to absorb animal perspiration, and may be in particular:
saddle pads to separate the saddle or inserted saddle clothes from perspiration, and to protect the animal, a horse or a pony, from saddle chafing.
clothes or numbered cloth used to identified racing dogs or harnessed horses in competitions, such as draught horses;
strap sheaths for horses and dogs.
sheaths for various harnessing components.
covers for components or shock absorbing cushions, placed underneath a saddle, and intended to relieve the back of a ridden horse.
back protecting pads for training, intended to protect the animal from saddle chafing and to cover its back by absorbing its perspiration and by separating the back from cold air.
anti-perspiration covers for animals to absorb perspiration after vigorous exercise and to protect them from cold drafts.
Normally saddles are isolated from the back of a perspiring horse by a simple rectangular cloth called a xe2x80x9csaddle blanketxe2x80x9d or by a thicker sheepskin saddle cloth or a felt or quilted fabric or even by a thick, folded wool blanket.
These saddle clothes have numerous disadvantages which often appear simultaneously:
(a) maintenance problems: saddle clothes have to be washed frequently and after every ride in order to eliminate hair and perspiration which might cause chafing inflammation through drying. Moreover, the thickness of the cloth can make washing difficult, and drying may be time consuming. Finally, this maintenance results in washing expenses and requires mobilizing a staff to achieve it.
(b) wear problems: clothes deteriorate from perspiration when they are not regularly washed, or by detergents when they are regularly washed, so they get quickly worn out. Accordingly, the wearability of clothes isolated by contact with perspiration emanating from an animal such as a horse. Furthermore, the saddle gets wet, is made dirty, or spoiled, this problem being even increased through shocks and pressures caused by the weight and the position of the rider.
(c) hygiene problems: skin diseases such as ringworm, or scabs or other parasites, can often be spread when a used cloth is transferred, without being washed, from one animal to another.
Consequently:
animals are not well protected and often are prone to injuries caused by saddle chafing;
there is an important risk of skin disease propagation;
the saddle is poorly protected from animal perspiration which causes deterioration of the leather.
To find a remedy to these unpleasant drawbacks, U.S. Pat. No. 3,466,852 offers a disposable saddle pad, with a lamellar structure, comprising a plastic liquid-tight film linked with one or two embossed paper sheets, one of them being intended to be in contact with the animal. However, this saddle pad is not satisfactory for the following reasons:
most often, the absorbent power of such pads is insufficient;
goffered paper sheets impregnated with perspiration have a tendency to deteriorate;
finally, such pads are not flexible enough, resulting in discomfort to the animal.
A multilayered saddle pad had been previously described in the U.S. Pat. No. 604,567 (Mc Clain). Beginning from the surface in contact with the animal, this pad was made out of:
an exterior smooth layer;
an absorbent layer made out of sponge;
a waterproof layer;
a classic fabric layer for a saddle pad;
an exterior smooth layer.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,496 therein described absorbent multilayered articled protecting skin, which, beginning from the surface in contact with a person""s skin or with the back of a horse or with the back of another animal, made out of:
a first layer made out of hydrophobic fibers which attract and store moisture and perspiration onto the interior side of the layer;
a semi-permeable membrane allowing moist and perspiration passage only from the hydrophobic fibers layer to the next layer;
this next layer being made out of a foam capable of absorbing water and cushioning shocks; and
a possible liquid-tight layer.
However, this absorbent multilayered article is complicated and rather expensive, and because of the expense it may not be reasonable to dispose after one or several uses.
This is why the main object of the present invention is to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks through providing articles absorbing perspiration which protect both the animal and saddle leather, these articles having therefore to store absorbed perspiration, even under pressure or under any distortion in normal use conditions.
Another important object of the present invention is also to provide articles absorbing perspiration at the lowest cost, low enough for them to be thrown away after one or several uses, in order to remove the necessity of maintenance obligation as well as infectious risks among animals and to insure better hygiene.
To reach these goals, the present invention proposes disposable articles for absorbing animal perspiration, comprising:
an absorbent layer with a minimum absorption capacity of 150 g/m2 of perspiration (under pressure caused by a rider weight or without pressure) and are composed of:
(i) one or serval materials of different natures designed under the term xe2x80x9csuperabsorbentxe2x80x9d (hydrostoring) and of at least one non-woven fabric and/or at least one fibrous pad, preferably fibers able to absorb perspiration, for instance cellulose or viscose fibers, this non-woven fabric and this fibrous pad allowing liquid diffusion; or
(ii) a layer of at least 1 mm in thickness and with a weight of at least 90 g/m2 made out of fibers able to absorb perspiration and able to allow liquid diffusion, preferably cellulose or viscose fibers, these perspiration absorbent fibers being at least partly tied one with another, preferably thermally, through synthetic and thermo-fusible fibers, for instance polyethylene fibers or polypropylene fibers, or more preferably a mixture of these two types of fibers.
and at least one reinforcing layer to insure articles strength during use, this reinforcing layer being possibly composed of a film or of a non-woven layer or of a liquid-tight layer.
The disposable absorbent articles of the present invention are used preferably in such a way that the absorbent layer is in contact with the animal and that the reinforcing layer is inserted between the absorbent layer and the saddle leather. Such an arrangement for the disposable absorbent articles of the present invention is imperative when the reinforcing layer is made out of a liquid-tight layer.
One of the essential components of the disposable absorbent articles of the present invention is the absorbent layer. Advantageously, the absorption capacity of this layer is of about 500 g/m2 of the absorbent or superior layer.
In accordance with a first method of executing this invention, the absorbent layer is made out of one or several superabsorbents of different nature (hydrostoring) and of at least one non-woven fabric and/or of at least one fibrous pad, preferably fibers able to absorb perspiration, for instance cellulose or viscose fibers, this non-woven fabric and the fibrous pad allowing liquid diffusion.
Superabsorbents are understood generally as components made out of hydrophile polymer chains having generally ionic charges or out of plant fibers which, submerged in water, swell and turn into gel consistency. Thus, superabsorbents turn large quantities of liquid, such as about 10 or 30 times their volume, into gel, in a relatively short time, such as a few minutes. Gels obtained in this way can be treated to excrete the absorbed liquid by pressure or by distortion. As examples of well-known superabsorbents which can be used in the scope of the present invention, one can mention synthetic polymers and copolymers obtained from vinylic or acrylic monomers, such as acrylates, methacrylates, acrylamide, vinylpyrrolidone, etc.; natural products such as alginates or carrageenans; plant fibers such as sphaignes or agar agar; and products stemming from chemical modification of cellulose and starch, such as reticulated carboxymethylcelluloses and acrylic grafted starches. Superabsorbent articles obtained by chemical modification (alkaline hydrolysis or acid, sulphonation) or by physical (thermic or mechanic) modification of acrylic or styrenic polymers may be suitable as well.
In the scope of this first method to execute the invention, quantity of superabsorbents is preferably at least equal to 1 g/m2 of the disposable article.
The weight of superabsorbents by surface unity of the disposable and absorbent article is preferably at least equal to 2 g/m2, and more preferably does not exceed 12 g/m2. Even more particularly, its weight is around 3 or 4 g/m2.
In accordance with the first method to execute the present invention, superabsorbents are associated with at least one non-woven fabric and/or at least one fibrous pad, preferably fibers able to absorb perspiration.
In accordance with a first variation of this method to execute the invention, the non-woven fabric(s) and/or the fibrous pad(s) is:
distributed on a layer made of superabsorbents,
and fixed, at least partly, to this layer of superabsorbents, for instance by thermo-binding or sticking.
Consequently, superabsorbents are inserted between the reinforcing layer and the non-woven fabric/s and/or the fibrous pad/s.
In such a case, superabsorbents may take any form, such as films, particles, or powder, possibly combined to a natural or synthetic particular material, for example polypropylene fibers, ground plant fragments, synthetic materials cut into pieces, viscose or defibered paper pulp.